Absorption spectroscopy is one of the most widely used techniques employed for determining the concentrations of absorbing species (chromophores) in solutions. It is a non-destructive technique which biologists and biochemists and now systems biologist to quantify the cellular components and characteristic parameters of functional molecules. This quantification is most relevant in the context of systems biology. For creating a quantitative depiction of a metabolic pathway, number of parameters and variables are important and these need to be determined experimentally. In this review it consists of history, instrumentations, detectors and applications of AAS.